Reigen didn't go on many dates these days.
He just didn't have the time. Between work and trying to keep Ritsu and Teru from doing anything reckless there wasn't much time left over for a personal life. Not that he'd ever been much of a ladies' man, not outside of a brief window of time in university anyway, but it had been a very long dry spell these past few years. Not that this was a date in the strictest sense of the word, of course. This was more of…well a one night stand, maybe? No, no, that sounded way too impersonal. He didn't like these things to be impersonal, even if he had just met the woman tonight.
It had been a good night.
Networking parties had always been the bane of his existence. Sure, he was good at it, but it was just so…boring. Hello, nice to meet you, here's my business card. Then again and again and again. Actual parties, places where you could cut loose and be yourself, were more up his alley. Of course, though, it wasn't like he could have turned down the Kageyama's invitation.
He wasn't sure yet.
He hadn't had a girlfriend in years. He'd always been too time poor, or just the regular sort of poor, for a girlfriend. He was getting up there in years, twenty seven did feel like he was getting old. He wondered how he'd feel at thirty seven, or forty seven, or even fifty seven…if he even lived that long. Those kids were going to be the death of him…God, he sounded like his mother. He wasn't even a parent and he was already thinking like one. He needed to think like, well, like someone who had found a woman who was at least a little into him and he was brining her home and would probably end up taking her out for breakfast in the morning…and yes, breakfast could include ramen from the twenty four hour place down the road. Anything could be a breakfast food if he tried hard enough. After that…after that…he didn't really know what was going to happen after that.
He'd see where this went.
Maybe this woman, Ona-san, would be more than a one night stand…did he even want that? Mom had been on him, since the day he graduated from university, to go out and get her some grandkids. That had been the first thing out of her mouth, the very first thing she had said after the graduation ceremony ended. 'When are you going to meet a nice woman and get married, Taka-chan?' like he was following some kind of checklist. She always asked him that, when he was going to meet a woman and get married, when he was going to get a wife…she always made it sound so easy, like he could just go stand on the corner with a ring on a fishing line and some woman would come up and take it and then that would be it. Reigen didn't even know if he wanted to get married, or if he even wanted a girlfriend, though it would have been nice to have someone to be with…to have someone his own age to talk to, at least…
But he was getting ahead of himself.
The cab pulled to a stop in front of his apartment. He got out first and opened the door for Ona. Her nose wrinkled as she stepped out…yeah. It wasn't the best area. It was better than a lot of other places, but not the best. It was the best that he could do with the money he was making. Better money than before, some conglomerate had come to town and was really boosting the local economy, but not as much as he needed to support to people. If it had been him by himself then he could have just lived in a one bedroom, or even just a six tatami one room if he was really going to go minimalist. But it wasn't just him, no, he had someone else to take care of now…partially. Teru's parents send him an allowance, and once every few weeks they had their people call to make sure that he was still alive, but that was the extent of their parenting. Everything else was left to Reigen. The Hanazawa's clothed him, which Reigen thanked God every single day for since Teru had some very expensive tastes, but Reigen fed him and kept a roof over his head...and that kid could eat, and he needed a good roof…Reigen closed the car door behind Ona. He was such a parent, now, and he didn't know how he felt about that…
He wasn't a parent and had to stop thinking like one.
He closed the door and led her up the stairs to his apartment. Still just an outdoor balcony. He had wanted an apartment in a building with a lobby, and a doorman, but this was the best that he could do right now. He shifted his eyes to the side…nobody in red. Nobody wearing a ribbon. Nobody offering hugs to the lonely. None of those people with the masks, either, which the kids had told him was another cult that was picking up footing in the city. There was just something about this city that lent its self to cults, he supposed, something in the water maybe. The kids probably had a whole notebook full of theories as to why…he needed to stop thinking about, worrying about, the kids.
It was kind of hard, though, when one of them was home and doing his best to get a noise complaint taped to their front door.
"Damn it, Teru…" muttered Reigen as he opened the door. He was supposed to be at Ritsu's house tonight, that was the only reason Reigen had brought someone home. He should have gone to her place, and he could have gone to her place, but he had wanted to be home in case Teru came back early in the morning as he tended to. He had expected him and Ritsu to maybe get into a fight…but not one bad enough to get Teru home in the middle of the night and blaring….metal?
Something really loud and angry…which meant that he had an angry thirteen year old to deal with. Wonderful.
"What is that?" asked Ona as Reigen took his coat off. He held his hand out to take hers…she didn't take hers off.
"It sounds like my roommate lost his headphones." Said Reigen rubbing the back of his head. Ona tsked and picked up the schoolbag near her feet.
"Your roommate is in middle school?" asked Ona
"Well, he's less of a roommate and more of an extended guest. He's family, that's all. I'm just taking care of him while-" said Reigen. The lie rolled off his tongue, as most did. Ona didn't look like she was buying it. She put the school bag down and kicked the soccer ball by her feet. It rolled from the genkan to the living room, stopping by the stack of videogames by the TV. R
"Let me guess, you have a kid and it's your week with him or you just have him for the holidays or something like that?" asked Ona, in a tone that said 'I see right through you'. This was better than her knowing the truth, the truth could get him sent to jail, but not good for his future romantic prospects. S
"Well, technically he's going to be with me for a lot longer, and he wasn't supposed to be home tonight. He was supposed to be at boyfr-his friend's house for the New Year." said Reigen
"You didn't tell me you had a kid. Listen, you're a nice guy and all but I'm not really looking for anything serious right now." said Ona, crossing her arms.
"I'm not really looking for anything serious right now either. I mean we just met, I don't even know your given name yet." said Reigen with a laugh…one that she didn't return.
"It's Miki. Ona Miki." Said Ona
"Reigen Arataka, greatest-" said Reigen
"Greatest lawyer of the twenty first century, I remember. Listen, I don't think that this is going to work, ok? We just aren't compatible." Said Ona
"We barely known each other, we just met tonight. I don't even know what kind of fiancé you're in." said Reigen
"I'm in restaurant supply, I just came to that party with my friend…what a mistake that was." Said Ona
"Oh." Said Reigen. Wall not that was just painful.
"Yeah, 'oh'. Listen, it's not you, it's me. I don't like kids, ok? I don't like them, I don't want them, and I don't really want to be involved with anyone who has them. It's nothing against you, I wish you the best, and I'm…going to take a cab home now. Happy New Year." Said Ona
"Alright, Happy New Yea-" said Reigen as the door slammed shut. Well that had been a bust. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. This was…not the best thing that could have happened…but it could have been worse. She could have asked why he, somehow, had a thirteen year old son. That was a can of worms that he did not want opened. It wasn't legal what he was doing, taking care of Teru, even though somehow it was legal for his parents to leave him in an apartment all on his own before he had even been out of elementary school. The rules were different when you were rich, he supposed, and there were some things that even he couldn't argue his way out of…like how any of this had come to be…
So maybe it was best that she had left him high and dry.
He took picked his coat up off the ground and hung it up. Teru was still in his room, still blaring very loud rock music in a language that Reigen couldn't understand, and still kicking his soccer ball against the wall from what it sounded like. He was supposed to be at Ritsu's house right now…they'd probably had another fight. They fought a lot, a lot more than Reigen had ever fought with anyone at their age. It didn't seem healthy, though of course what did Ritsu and Teru care what he thought? They were at that age where they thought that they knew better than everyone else, especially some old and out of touch adult. There was no getting through to them, not at once anyway, and it wasn't like he was hoping that they were going to break up or anything like that.
He just wanted them to be happy.
Right now Teru was anything but happy. Reigen loosened his tie and made his way over to Teru's room. it wasn't a long trip, it wasn't that big of an apartment. Not really. It was the best two bedroom that he could swing for them. It wasn't that bad, of course, it wasn't like they were living in some hovel. Sure the wallpaper was an ugly brown and yellow floral pattern, the carpet may not have started off grey, and most of their windows faced a brick wall but it was better than the one bedroom they'd been packed in before…though the holes he was suspecting Teru was putting in the walls right now weren't exactly going to serve to make the place more livable…another thud.
Reigen got the feeling that he wasn't going to be getting his security deposit back.
"Teru? You in there?" asked Reigen as he knocked on the door. He wanted to let himself in but knew better. When he had been Teru's age mom had been a big fan of the old knock and enter. Ritsu's parents were the same, he had said before. Maybe something happened in your mind when you became a parent, something that erased any and all memories of being thirteen and needing your privacy…or maybe you just changed when you became an adult. Maybe you had a greater capacity for concern…the kind of concern that made you want to throw a door opened and make sure that your sort of kid wasn't in there angry at the world and about to do something that he was going to regret.
The thudding stopped. Maybe Reigen was going to get his security deposit back after all.
"This isn't a good time." Said Teru, his voice muffled by the door. The music began to quiet down, too. Teru was turning it down…but not off. Something must have been really bothering him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Reigen
"No." said Teru
"Do you want to tell me what you're listening to? It sounds like rock music but…angrier. Is that heavy metal?" asked Reigen. He knew that it was, of course, he just needed to get Teru talking. Nothing good ever came from that kid stewing on his emotions.
"It's not heavy metal, it's Rammstein." Said Teru
"I thought that they were heavy metal?" asked Reigen
"No, they're more like gothic metal and techno metal…and there's some industrial there too." Said Teru
"Wait, so there are different kinds of heavy metal?" asked Reigen
"Heavy metal is it's own thing, you're thinking of just metal. Heavy metal is a part of metal but metal is just…they call everything metal, you know? Even when it's not. Ritsu thinks that, too, it's all the same but what does he know? He doesn't even like music…he's such an idiot…." Muttered Teru
"That…went way over my head." Said Reigen. He heard Teru sigh and then, suddenly, his door flew opened. Reigen nearly fell through the doorway but Teru caught him. He had gotten Teru to open the door and, also, Reigen hadn't gotten hurt in the fall. He was going to count this one as a victory.
"Heavy metal is different, ok? And it's not all just noise like Ritsu thinks." Said Teru as he set Reigen down on his feet. Reigen got his balance after a second of fumbling. Teru didn't laugh, he didn't even smile. He just sat there on his bed with his knees drawn up to his chest. Reigen eyed the bed, and the desk chair…
He went with the bed.
Teru tended to push people away, or run away, when something bothered him. He had a real independence streak to him which, really, could be kind of a good thing. He could get himself ready for school in the morning, handle his own homework, keep a very complicated social calendar, and even made them dinner most nights. He also had a tendency to do other things on his own, and he never did ask for help, like now. clearly something had happened with Ritsu, something that he was trying to process.
Something that had made him angry, if the music still playing from his laptop was anything to go off of.
"Is that what happened? You and Ritsu fought about music again?" asked Reigen
"…no. I mean not lately. This was…we didn't even fight! Ritsu was just being an idiot! I mean it's like…he's supposed to be so smart but he's such an idiot when it comes to-to-ugh!" said Teru as he grabbed the blanket and put it over his head. He looked like a little ghost…it was honestly kind of adorable. Not that Reigen was going to say anything, of course, that would have just made the whole thing worse.
"When it comes to playing ghosts?" asked Reigen as he tugged at the blanket over Teru's head. He felt the hair on the back of his arms standing up. Teru's aura.
"I'm not pretending to be a ghost. I just don't want you to see me right now….I look really bad. I'm all red and broken out…I should wash my face." Said Teru. Reigen tried, again, to tug the blanket down but it was fully stuck. Teru's doing. It always surprised him, just a little, how strong telekinesis was…but he wasn't going to quit now. Teru needed him. He tugged on the blanket once more and it came down. Teru glared at him.
"Teru, where'd you come from?" laughed Reigen
"…you knew I was under there." Said Teru
"Yeah, yeah, I did…sorry. That would have been better if you'd been younger." Said Reigen
"I'm thirteen…I'm too old for stuff like that. I've been too old for stuff like that." Said Teru
"You're right, you're right, you are…but you know, you're a little young for other things, like taking all of this on by yourself." Said Reigen
"Taking what on?" asked Teru. Reigen's eyes wandered over to the calendar on his wall. He had a lot of red sticky notes up. Those were dates. Some with Ritsu, some with other people, and all…all kind of a lot for a thirteen year old. Reigen hadn't even gone on his first date by thirteen let alone all of this. It was a lot, emotionally, for someone his age to handle.
"Whatever it is that you and Ritsu fought about." Said Reigen
"We didn't fight! There's just this guy and-and I can't tell you about this…you wouldn't get it…"said Teru. Reigen didn't need to hear anymore. Another guy. He wasn't sure how it worked, exactly, between the two of them. He knew that Teru went on plenty of dates but only with girls. Maybe they had a 'no guys' rule. He didn't know and he wasn't about to ask a couple of kids about the intricacies of their relationship, he didn't fully want to know and he didn't think that Teru wanted to answer.
Besides, he was starting to put the pieces together on his own.
"I think that I'm starting to get it. Ritsu likes another guy, right? And you're starting to get jealous?" asked Reigen
"I'm not jealous! Ritsu…he's just so stupid sometimes. He's stupid and if he doesn't want me around then he…he can be stupid on his own. I don't know. Maybe I'm being stupid. I mean I left him on his own and….and it's not like he ever thinks before he does things! He just kind of…I don't know…does things. He never thinks..." Said Teru
"Ok, yeah, you shouldn't have left him all alone on New Year's Eve and you probably should have told the Kageyamas that you were leaving…I'll text them in a minute…but, yeah, if you're not happy in a place…with someone…then you should leave…and if you're not comfortable doing something then you should leave." Said Reigen. He shifted in place. This was one of those hard conversations. He was good at talking but this…well this wasn't anything that he was used to. Parental things like this. He wanted to tell Teru that he and Ritsu would probably have been better as friends…but he knew that wouldn't go over well.
It never did.
When Reigen had been younger, older than Teru was now of course, he'd been dating the worst possible person for himself. He had been seeing a girl who liked to play hard to get, and hard to hang onto, and just…things had been hard. There had been a lot of fighting, and fighting about whether or not they'd been fighting, attempts at making the other jealous, and all sorts of immaturity…because that was what he'd been back then. Immature. A kid. Not nearly old enough to deal with the things he'd been dealing with. Of course when Mom had pointed that out he just told her that she didn't know what she had been talking about…in less kind words. Kids never wanted to hear these things, not from their parents or the other adults that took care of them.
Teru was mature for his age…but he was still thirteen.
"But I left him alone…maybe I'm the one who's a moron…" said Teru
"Sometimes it's best to run away instead of staying and getting into a fight…a worse fight, and it sounds like you guys got into a pretty bad fight. If you ever want to talk about it then you know I'm here for you. I mean I've never been in the kind of relationship you two are in, I've never dated another guy…or multiple people at once, but I'm here if you need help." Said Reigen
"It's not about…I mean…when was the last time that you were even on a real date? Why don't you go and try to find a girlfriend instead of worrying about me?" asked Teru
"And miss spending New Year with you? Not going to happen." Said Reigen. He tried to ruffle Teru's hair and got his hand slapped. There was the Teru he knew.
"What is it with adults and touching my hair? I'm not a cat, Reigen, and you know how long my hair takes." Said Teru
"Ok, ok, I hear you loud and clear. Don't ruffle your hair. How about this? After I tell the Kageyama's that you're here, and Ritsu's all alone…not good, we can watch that movie you like. The black and white one about the zombie pig?" asked Reigen. Teru perked up instantly.
"You don't have to tell them that Ritsu's alone. He'll be fine. If he thinks that he'll be fine then he's fine…it's not like he needs me, anyway." Said Teru, slouching down and crossing his arms.
"Ritsu needs you. Even if it doesn't seem like it, even if he has trouble expressing it, he needs you. You're someone he really cares about, I can tell, I've known him for years now. I can tell that you really care about him, too. I'm sure that whatever this is, whatever happened, you two can work it out. Even if you have to evaluate certain parts of your relationship…certain things that you might not be ready for." Said Reigen. Teru turned red and immediately turned away from Reigen.
"We don't do that! I already told you that we don't do that!" said Teru
"Hey, hey, I wasn't accusing you of-" said Reigen
"And-and it's none of your business if I was!" said Teru
"I know-" said Reigen
"We aren't, ok? And if we were I wouldn't tell you but we aren't and…and I'm not even doing stuff like that with Ritsu, ok?" said Teru
"I know, which is pretty much the only reason I was alright with you two spending all of New Year's Eve alone together. I was talking about the whole open relationship thing you two have going on. I don't know exactly what happened but I can piece together the details. Ritsu's into another guy, right? And you're having trouble with that." Said Reigen
"Ritsu's being a moron and he's into an even bigger moron! It's like-like he thinks he can just throw all of my mistakes back at me but if I point out that he's making the exact same ones he acts like I'm crazy…he acts like I'm the stupid one." Said Teru. Reigen shook his head. He was so glad that he didn't have to be thirteen again…or thirty. That was what these two were, thirteen going on thirty. He didn't know why these two couldn't just have normal problems like kids their age were supposed to have. He didn't know why they couldn't just fight about videogames or schoolwork or…or whatever it was the kids were supposed to fight about…God, he really was getting old, wasn't he?
"Neither of you are stupid. The two of you are still figuring things out, things that adults even have trouble figuring out. Nobody expects you two to have the perfect relationship, not at your age or mine, and you shouldn't expect that either. If something isn't working for you two then there's no shame in trying something else…and there's no shame in giving up, too, when something isn't working out. There's nothing wrong with going back to just being friends." Said Reigen, another lie slipping effortlessly through his teeth. There was nothing wrong with going back to just being friends…if it were even possible. It wasn't, or at least it hadn't been for Reigen. That was the line he'd gotten every single time he'd broken up with a girl. We'll still be friends.
It never worked out.
"I'm not giving up. Never. I don't care how much of an idiot Ritsu is, how reckless, or how much of a hypocrite. I am never giving up." Said Teru, determination rolling off of him in waves. He looked a lot like Ritsu in that moment, actually, and Reigen was reminded of why those two had found each other…maybe he had been too pessimistic. Maybe these two would beat the odds and make it. Not everyone was destined to be as romantically unsuccessful as he was.
"I know you won't, Teru, you never do. You're just about the most determined kid I've ever met…but how determined are you to explain that flying pig movie to me? That's the question." Said Reigen with a laugh, one he felt. One which Teru didn't return. Instead he got that same determined look in his eyes.
"This time you'll get it." Said Teru as he got up from the bed and went to the living room. Reigen lingered, pulling his phone from his pocket and texting Hana Teru's whereabouts, in case she had gotten worried. They may have still been out, though. It had been a work party for Ichimaro. Reigen had just been a guest….and not a very good one, either. He really should have stayed for longer. He had told the Kageyama's that it had been getting kind of late for him, he'd left right after the ball had dropped…and they had been nice enough to invite him out with them. He didn't exactly have people lining up to hang out with him.
People his own age, anyway.
He had the kids…they weren't his kids but they might as well have been…and maybe he should have been grateful for what he had, like Mom always said. Maybe he should just have been grateful that the kids were safe, and that the worst thing they were getting into was relationship drama. No more of this 'saving the world' recklessness that they'd been on about before. Claw was still there, of course, and they were still pretty visible…and dangerous…but he and Ritsu had walked right by groups of those people and they hadn't even glanced in their direction. For whatever reason they were leaving the kids alone now and he wasn't about to jinx it. Things were going…they were going alright this year…it could have been worse. Maybe he just needed to enjoy things for what they were…after all they could have been worse.
The last thing he needed was a repeat of last year.
He put his phone back in his pocket. The last thing that either of them needed was a repeat of last year, a repeat of everything that had gone wrong. Last year or the year before that. This was going to be a peaceful year and he wasn't going to question it, jinx it. He was going to take what he could get, for now. There were things that he wanted, a lot of things he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted, and he would pursue them…later. Not now. Not tonight.
Reigen didn't go on many dates these days, and that was alright. He had other, more important, things to do with his time…like try to figure out what in the hell surreal expressionism on film was.